Ready to give, willing to share

Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, - 1 Timothy 6v17-18

Sometimes as we read the word of God we can almost get the impression that God is anti-wealth. The truth is that God is opposed not to wealth, but to the love of wealth. In the same chapter that says, ‘the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil,’ also tells those who do have money to deal with it. From that alone it is obvious that some Christians are going to be rich.

In fact, the vast majority of us are rich in comparison to others. I will never be what the world causes rich. I doubt that I will ever even own my own home, but I have far more than others. I have a nice place to live, more than enough food to eat, plenty of clothing, and on and on. I can afford an occasional holiday, I have all kinds of ‘stuff’ that I really don’t need. So in some ways, I would have to say that I am ‘rich.’

So what do we do with it? First of we are not to be haughty about our money. For someone like me that is not a big deal, though I am not broke, I certainly don’t have enough to brag about. Secondly, we are to put our faith in God, and not our bank accounts. That’s a little more challenging. Unless we are flat broke we do have a tendency to trust in what we do have. Instead, our faith should be in God who ‘gives us richly all things to enjoy.’

Finally, God tells us what to do with what we have in relation to others. ‘Be rich in good works, be ready to give and willing to share.’ Those two little phrases really summarise the Christian’s view of wealth. ‘Be ready to give and willing to share.’ We can so caught up in ourselves that it is easy to forget about others.

Our stuff is not our stuff at all; it is all God’s stuff. As God’s stuff we cannot treat it foolishly and wastefully, but we also cannot selfishly hold on to it. Sharing is what it is all about!

Sharing – that’s what Christians do.